Quotations

"Maybe it'll stop you trying to be so desperate about making more money than you can ever use? You can't take it with you, Mr. Kirby. So what good is it? As near as I can see, the only thing you can take with you is the love of your friends."

— Lionel Barrymore, American actor, born 1878

"To my mind there is nothing so beautiful or so provocative as a secondhand book store. To me it is astonishing and miraculous to think that any one of us can poke among the stalls for something to read overnight--and that this something may be the sum of a lifetime of sweat, tears, and genius that some poor, struggling, blessed fellow expended trying to teach us the truth."

— Lionel Barrymore, American actor, born 1878

"It may be that when the angels go about their task praising God, they play only Bach. I am sure, however, that when they are together en famille they play Mozart."

— Karl Barth, Swiss theologian, born 1886

"Laughter is the closest thing to the grace of God."

— Karl Barth, Swiss theologian, born 1886

"Joy is the simplest form of gratitude."

— Karl Barth, Swiss theologian, born 1886

"Competitions are for horses, not artists."

— Bela Bartok, Hungarian composer, born 1881

"The door that nobody else will go in at, seems always to swing open widely for me."

— Clara Barton, American nurse, born 1821

"I may be compelled to face danger, but never fear it, and while our soldiers can stand and fight, I can stand and feed and nurse them."

— Clara Barton, American nurse, born 1821

"An institution or reform movement that is not selfish, must originate in the recognition of some evil that is adding to the sum of human suffering, or diminishing the sum of happiness."

— Clara Barton, American nurse, born 1821

"When a body moves, it's the most revealing thing. Dance for me a minute, and I'll tell you who you are."

— Mikhail Baryshnikov, Russian dancer, born 1948

"Before enlightenment, chopping wood and carrying water. After enlightenment, chopping wood and carrying water."

— Matsuo Basho, poet of the Edo period in Japan, born 1644

"Without bitterest cold that penetrates to the very bone, how can plum blossoms send forth their fragrance all over the world?"

— Matsuo Basho, Japanese poet, born 1644

"Learn how to listen as things speak for themselves."

— Matsuo Basho, poet of the Edo period in Japan, born 1644

"In this poor body, composed of one hundred bones and nine openings, is something called spirit, a flimsy curtain swept this way and that by the slightest breeze. It is spirit, such as it is, which led me to poetry, at first little more than a pastime, then the full business of my life. There have been times when my spirit, so dejected, almost gave up the quest, other times when it was proud, triumphant. So it has been from the very start, never finding peace with itself, always doubting the worth of what it makes."

— Matsuo Basho, Japanese poet, born 1644